Shinzou Kage Maboroshi
by DrHunter
Summary: Incomplete, but I figured that having only one fic up would be boring.


-=Shin Kage Musou=-  
[Shadow Heart Vision]  
  
Disclaimer? Ha! I claim them to be mine I tell you! Hahahaha!!  
(thoughts)'never will they figure out my fiendish plan to  
meet the infamous _Rumiko_Takahashi_!' ...wait...?  
Would she not attend a court over something petty like this?  
That's what those demonic lawyers are for. Foul Demons!  
If thou werenst minions of the lower depths, I would Damn thee!!  
  
Yes, that was the disclaimer. If you look closely it reads:  
"Beware rabid Kuno. Push Lawsuits through slot between eyes.  
Thank you." (NOTE: You are not expected to get this)  
  
Story By:  
DrHunter  
(If you know me you may leave, if not you shall suffer   
the torments of _Unknown_Number_ Hells!)  
  
Idea From:  
The Void (You know which one)  
  
Special Thanks To:  
Kami-Sama  
Laviathen  
The Batousai  
Capcom  
CLAMP  
Anthony Lopez (KNP community should know)  
Musashi  
Death no.5 (Death by blow to the groin)  
Death no.347 (Death by entering and exiting a car via windshield)  
and Activision (for the glichy goodness of Tenchu 1&2)  
  
Now that that's out of my system onto the reletively boring story  
sponsered by Ragna Orc, creator of "Armor of Protectiness".  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Shinzou Kage Maboroshi  
  
Story 1/Part 1/Version 1.0  
  
  
  
Somewhere in China, two people with large packs were striding   
purposefully through the thick woods. The larger of the two was   
wearing a dirty white gi, glasses, and a bandana that trailed half   
a meter behind him. The other was a boy with his black hair tied   
up in a pigtail, wearing the local peasant cloth of a red silk   
sleeveless shirt, and black Kung-Fu pants. His belt was wrapped   
three times around his waist to tie off loosely in front of him,   
giving the look of normal length.   
  
"Yo, Pops. Are you sure about this training ground?"  
  
"What are you, scared boy? If you are I'll let you back out..."  
  
"Yeah, Otouto, you can leave it to me an' Pops!"  
  
A girl about the same height as the boy dropped down in front   
of the two, also wearing a large pack. She has a light blue blouse   
with a yellow jacket loosely worn over top, and a dark green skirt   
that reached her knees. Her hair was worn up with a pony tail,   
tied with an extremely long sash, that would have reached the small   
of her back had it not been pointed up. (I don't mean stiffly, it   
falls down like normal)  
  
The boy looked like he was about to retort when the girl   
addressed the man in the dirty gi. "The way is clear, Pops." the   
girl reported. The man in the gi gave a nod, "Where do you think   
we should set up?"  
  
After a short pause and a quick look around the girl nodded to   
the ground in front of them, "This should be as good a place as   
any." The information settled into their minds, the boy cooling   
down, and acting upon an unseen signal they all jumped into the   
trees.  
  
Once in the foilage the three set to work creating an intricate   
mesh of hollow wooden pipes between branches. When complete with   
the structure, the man tore out and unfolded some planks of wood,   
then placed them on the mesh, creating the floor. The other two   
supplied three walls and a roof of the same material. It was kind   
of cramped for three people, but after twelve years on the road   
you get used to it.   
  
"So, Otouto, are you coming with us?"  
  
"WHAT?! Of course I'm coming, _Ane_! What would make you think any   
different?", the boy replied in a huff.  
  
Before the girl could continue her teasing, the man in the gi   
cut in. "Stop your squabling! It's time to move out." The two   
looked toward the sky. The sun would set in an hour or so and   
their destination was about an hours walk away. They nodded in   
comfirmation and the trio was leaping speedily across the terrain.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Just an hour before the sun set, the guide to Jusenkyu was finished   
with his daily chores -- aka. waiting for someone stupid to come by,   
ignore his warnings, and then tell them what just happened -- so   
he set about 'closing' up. He had tried before, posting signs to   
caution visitors during the night, but those failed miserably. Now   
he just put a sign on his cabin door "Don't disturb until morning."  
  
As the poor, overworked Jusenkyu guide was starting to get some   
well deserved shut-eye, a scream echoed through the valley.  
  
"Where on Earth am I now!?!?"  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Half hour later, three figures landed without a sound in some   
soft soil and looked around in the low lit, red tinted atmosphere.   
Even in the dimmed light it was possible to see that our troop was   
now armed and without packs. The man in the gi had a sheath attached   
to the back of his waist in a horizontal fashion, the girl had a   
bo-staff slung loosly over her shoulder, and the boy had a four foot   
sheath firm to his back in a vertical fashion and some bracers for   
his bare arms. The sheaths were, of coarse, full.  
  
"Here we are kids. This is one of THE most dangerous places in   
China!"   
  
The boy just looked in awe, and the girl tried to look bored,   
having seen it earlier. Nothing, however could conceal their   
excitement. The boy gasped at the beauty, "Phoenix Mountain..." The   
man just nodded and looked toward the girl, "How do we get in?"  
  
"There's the entrance in front of us, one about 300 meters East of   
here, and three midway to the top of the mountain."  
  
The man seemed to asses the situation before giving orders, "Very   
well, Ayane, you take the East entrance. Ranma, try to take the   
highest vantage possible. I'll take this entrance and we'll meet   
inside. If we can't meet inside then the meeting place is our camp   
any time before dawn. After that we leave without you."  
  
Normally one might think this was a mere threat and no more,   
but four years ago Ranma got the laugh of his life watching Ayane   
running down a dirt road trying to catch up. "Remember that, Ane.   
It could save your life." ...She never heard the end of it.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Within a dim candle lit room, a very attractive girl paced about.   
She was atired in smooth white robes, hands barely peeking out of   
the large flowing sleeves. Emblazed upon her chest was a Phoenix   
born of crimson thread from a golden base, the embroidered sun behind   
it. The rest of the trim was crimson aswell. Below a gold band across   
her waist, the robe flowed into a skirt reaching just below her   
knees, with a slit up the left side reaching to slightly above mid   
thigh. Two feathery white capes matched her hair and dress, and   
reached down with twin tips nearly trailing the ground.  
  
The white haired girl stopped pacing and took on a contemplative   
face, 'Why are they doing this to me? I'd serve Lord Saffron with my   
dying breath, but I'm not prepared to serve. My father only died a   
week past and already I'm given his position! Argh! How does a teen   
be an advisor to the king?! It doesn't make sense. Oh, what am I   
going to do?' She started pacing again until a realization dawned   
upon her, 'For one thing I need to calm down. A stressful advisor is   
a stressful king... ...But what to do about it?'  
  
Taking up a cute frown and thinking for a bit she spoke her   
thoughts aloud, "Perhaps a little scouting can take my mind off things."   
Before she could reach the door she found pause. "...But not in this."   
she said, exageratedly looking at her apparal.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The man in the white gi was woddling down a hall in a now, not   
very white gi. It was stained of blood that was seeping from three   
slash wounds on his chest. His hands were bloody and his skin looked   
sickly. However, despite what all appearances would suggest, the man   
was grinning broadly.   
  
The man stopped short of the next corner and seemed to listen to   
apparitions only he could hear. He gathered himself and set about   
looking extremely pathetic, (not a hard task) and turned the corner   
only to hobble up to two guards.  
  
Guards they may have been but sheltered they were not, they could   
tell that the man in front of them was in desperate need of help.   
Halt! State your name and business.  
  
The man in the formerly white gi would have face faulted if he   
weren't trying to keep his wounds from infection, so he settled on   
falling flat on his back instead. Jerry Springer, and I like get   
medical um... help, please. was the moaned response.  
  
While the guard on the left puzzled about an obvious Japanese   
having an English name, the guard on the right was seriously   
considering helping the fool now unconcious on the ground before   
him. In spite of the comatose face he was wearing, 'Jerry Springer'   
was inwardly grinning his head off. The people in front of him just   
started arguing and the ratings went up again! He wondered why   
people called it a talk show even after all these years.  
  
The man in the red and white gi feigned unconciousness before   
the guards in hopes of gathering more sympathy. He hoped they'd   
hurry and get him some medical attention because he was working on   
a time limit.   
  
To his children this was just a training ground and the goal was   
to survive long enough to get in and get out, and maybe have some   
fun doing it. But to him, it was his chance at infinite riches! He   
wondered if neglecting to tell them this mountain was inhabited would   
buy him enough time. As a brief after thought he made note that   
omitting that info might not have been a good idea, but quickly   
smothered it.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ayane looked at the entrance with no little amount of anxiety.   
The opening looked man made, but most definatly did NOT look safe.   
The sun had just about set over the rocky horison and the cave was   
pitch black. This left an eerie feeling through her bones that got   
her scouring the ground for something.  
  
Picking up a fallen branch, she snapped off a piece about two   
feet in length. Comfortable with its size she wrapped a hankerchief   
around one end. Removing and opening a box from the breast jacket   
pocket, she smiled for the mirror and took out a bottle of perfume.   
Making sure not to get any of the stuff on the tip of the hankerchief   
(it's on the tip of the stick if that helps) she sprayed, rather   
heavily, a coat of perfume to the rest of it.  
  
Ayane took a moment to look regretfully at the bottle before   
putting it away with the box in her jacket. Her jacket once again   
became useful by offering her some powder from its left pocket.   
Sprinkling the powder over the kerchief, some on the dry spot and   
a little on the perfume. After dusting off her hands very carefully,   
she reached into her right jacket pocket for another powder, with   
which she promptly let loose in the air.   
  
Lightly swinging the stick through the tiny cloud in order to   
reap the desired results, Ayane was rewarded with a sparkly flash   
of light and a new torch. It glowed a briliant blue and shot the   
occasional spark from the powder that got in the wet perfume.   
Certainly it would stink like crazy but that wouldn't hamper her   
ability more than not having light. She just hoped that if anybody   
smelled it they wouldn't come investigate. This place is supposed   
to be dangerous.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
A light clicking noise reverberated throughout the empty stony   
halls that were made of fine, smooth walls that seemed elegant, but   
with simplicity. Cracks and fissures, however, showed the age of   
the halls in spite of how well kept they were.  
  
The source of the noise came from a pair of small feet. Supported   
by the feet were some comparitively long legs, attached to a fairly   
slight body. The obvious female walked with a smooth and elegant   
grace that matched the halls she passed. Not once did she appear   
hesitant or in haste.  
  
Contrary to previous description, the girl was not attired in   
what would be considered, by other world powers, as 'proper'. In   
fact they didn't look suited for casual wear let alone someone who   
looked like a noble. In truth she looked dressed in nothing more   
than a high neck one-piece bathing suit with elbo length gloves   
and knee high boots. The sword didn't look out of place at her side   
though.  
  
The girl herself resembles the one seen in the dimly lit room   
earlier, mainly because she is. Her outfit is really a skimpy   
version of her robes, minus the phoenix, plus the sword, and   
including the dual white capes. Though her face told of no emotion   
her eyes held sadness and confusion. Nobody, however, would notice.   
  
Two gaurds, male, stood watch over the exit ten meters away.   
They would stay that way for most of the night, waiting to be   
relieved sometime before sunrise. They would have a training   
session in the morning and a meal before getting rest for the day.   
They were also expected to answer any calls no matter the time   
of day.   
  
Looking at those guards made her realise just how 'cushy' a   
place she had in the mountain. They rarely got to see their   
families and yet they served with relentless respect for the   
people of higher nobility and even the peseants. The realization   
could have made her weep at another time but it only helped   
placate her own sadness. The confusion remained though, it didn't   
help her understand her situation any more than to be happy   
she had grown up with a family. Mostly. 


End file.
